I live in USDA zone 7b. My parents recently visited and brought me lots of lovely iris bulbs from their garden. Before they left, they planted them in my flower beds where nothing else was growing. Both beds get nearly full sun. One more than the other. I would like to plant some other flowers and plants in the beds but I am not sure how to plant around the bulbs or even what to plant now. I love iris, but I'd hope to grow other flowers there as well. Thanks!

To me, color all season means either annual (start to bloom early summer and go till frost, some reseed each year) or choose a few different perennials, because most of them have a limited couple weeks of bloom.

I also like my iris best if I divide every few years and keep just the best parts, allowing room for other plants. I don't like a full bed of iris alone in summer, when it's done bloom and just a lot of leaves.

..come into the peace of wild things..-Wendell Berry
Life is a buffet (anon)

Be sure to save some room between your iris plants and new perennials to put in some bulbs in the fall that will bloom before the iris in spring. Tulips and daffodils, amongst others will be lovely there. They only bloom a short time but then their foliage will be covered up by the iris and other perennials as they come along.

How about some chrysanthemums for flowers in the fall? They have pretty foliage through the summer and a beautiful display just when everything else is winding down.

Could you please complete your personal profile to tell us where in the world you are? Just your climate zone really isn't quite enough info to recommend specific plants. It only tells us how cold it gets on average in the winter there. We need to know how hot, and humid or dry it is, and what your soil is like as well. The more info the better for you to get good answers to your questions.

Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill